When Bobby Jindal took office, the unemployment rate in Louisiana was 3.8 percent. In May it was 6.8 percent. As of the end of June it stands at 7 percent.
Louisiana’s unemployment rate is still below the national average of 7.6 percent, but clearly Louisiana is going in the wrong direction. June is the sixth straight month that our state’s unemployment rate has risen.
However, one would never know that to read the regular press releases from Bobby Jindal and his ethically-challenged head of economic development, Stephen Moret.
Almost daily Jindal is somewhere in Louisiana (at least he’s in the state periodically) cutting a ribbon or announcing another plant expansion that is projected to create thousands of jobs – someday. Unfortunately, for the unemployed, we are finding that many of these projections never materialize.
What the public needs to know, but doesn’t, is how many jobs are lost daily in our state. In other words, instead of telling us the number of new jobs that might be created, we need to know the net number of jobs in Louisiana.
Jindal and Moret tell us only about the plus side of the jobs “balance sheet”; not the negative side. That creates a false sense of security about our state’s economy.
The false hope that we are being fed in press releases is a lie to make our public officials look like they are doing something when they aren’t.
The truth may hurt, but the citizens of Louisiana not only need, but deserve, all the facts.
Louisiana needs a Joe Friday!
Be the first to comment